House of cards
by ThinkOnlyLovelyThoughts
Summary: AU/AH. All characters are in college, Robert and Maryse are divorced and while Jace and Izzy are building their lives up, Alec is happier than ever. The Lightwoods are starting over. Will Izzy find someone she can trust? What is next for Alec now that he's moving in with Magnus? What's Jace's Plan? What about Maryse and Max? Mainly Sizzy with some Malec and a little bit of Clace.
1. Call me Izzy

**A/N Hi everyone! This is my first story ever (well, the first one that I think is good enough to publish), please tell me what you think, what you liked what you didn't like and pretty much everything you want, feedback is very much appreciated.**

**I OWN NOTHING (I wish I did, but I don't)**

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><p><strong><em>First a little bit of context:<em>**

_Jace and Isabelle started college and immediately decided to rent an apartment, be as independent as possible and convice Alec to live with them. It was like the good old days, before Robert kicked Alec out and before the divorce, but they're not the same as they used to be, Robert and Maryse's divorce was tough and Jace and Isabelle had to live through it, trying to protect Max while finishing high school, dealing with the constant fighting and seeing the effect it all had on Maryse._

_Alec lived on a crappy apartment while going to college, balancing work and as much classes as he could take, managing the rejection from his father and getting used to not seeing his sibilings everyday. He found his soulmate when he least expected it, Magnus Bane made his way into Alec's life and things started to look better for him. Magnus was all the family he needed and then Jace and Isabelle asked him to move in and things were never better._

_Now Alec was moving in with Magnus, leaving his sibilings again, this time definitely happier. Jace and Isabelle are just starting to build up their lives, finally being who they are beyond Maryse and Robert, beyond Alec, even beyond Max. It's time for the Lightwoods to live._

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><p><strong>Chapter song: Natalia Kills - Zombie<strong>

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><p><strong>Isabelle's POV:<strong>

I was lying on the couch half watching a movie half sleeping. I really needed a lazy Saturday afternoon, and since Alec was with Magnus and Jace was out with whatever-her-name-was I had the apartment for myself. Around twelve I ordered some takeout and haven't moved since then until my phone ringed at three.

"Aline, dear, how are you?"

"Not so good, I need you… what are you doing?"

"Nothing really. Why don't you come over? "

"I'm glad you asked. I'm at the door."

I laughed and got up to open the door. Aline and I were friends since we were kids, our parents were friends and had country houses by the same lake so we used to spend every summer together, she even dated Jace for a month or so before coming out to her parents, she called him Jacey Wacey, a nickname that Jace hated and that Aline, Alec and I still used just to piss him off.

I was shocked when I opened the door, Aline had always had long black hair but now it was cut just above her shoulders, she looked way better.

"Aline! When did you cut it?!" I said running my fingers through it, we had eaten lunch on Wednesday and she didn't say anything about cutting it.

"This morning?" she blushed shifting her weight from one foot to the other "do you like it?"

"I love it!"

She smiled and entered the apartment sitting in the couch and leaving a plastic bag in the coffee table.

"Okay, let's see what we have here so I can assess the problem…" There was chocolate ice cream, whip cream and a bottle of tequila in the bag "It seems like a serious thing"

I served two bowls of ice cream and two glasses of tequila -this wasn't a shots situation- and then I looked at her. "Spill"

"Helen in having a party tonight"

"And the problem is…"

"That I don't know anyone besides her and she's gonna be busy with everyone and I wanna go but not if I'm gonna stay all night getting drunk in a corner watching her dance and flirt and-"

"Hey, breathe"

"Sorry" she looked at me sheepishly and ate a big spoon of ice cream.

"First of all, Helen likes you, she's not gonna flirt with anyone besides you and she will never ignore you" I'd met Helen briefly and really didn't knew her, but she was very nice and I knew she was the kind of person who would never hurt anyone intentionally "now, if you're still worried I can go with you."

She had been quietly eating and drinking barely looking up from her bowl of ice cream, she looked at me with her eyes shining "would you, Iz? Thank you so so _so_ much!"

We finished the ice cream and went into my room to decide what to wear.

"I can't believe that there are still boxes in here" Alec decided about a month and a half ago to move in with Magnus, unfortunately the process was interrupted by midterms, and Alec took school too seriously to continue. Therefore, there were boxes scattered all around the apartment for over a month now.

"Yeah, you get used to it… unless you're Jace, he's seriously gonna lose it if we can't finish tomorrow"

"Oh, Iz, I didn't know you had to do moving stuff tomorrow… I can go alone to the party; really you don't have to-"

"Stop talking nonsense Aline I'm going, I can move stuff around with a headache, besides, if I don't do it well, there's a bigger chance that Jace would do my job"

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><p>Picking hair, makeup and dresses with Aline was fun, and before we knew it we had finished the tequila and were having our own little party around the apartment when Jace arrived.<p>

"Jacey!" Aline shouted as soon as he closed the door, he looked exhausted but smiled at the girl.

"Don't call me that please"

"Hey Jace, can I ask you a favor?"

"Sure"

"Iz and I are going to a party tonight, can you drive us?"

"Why can't you drive yourselves? You're already drunk?"

Aline just laughed and collapsed in the couch by my side "Please Jacey"

"It's very rude to ask me to drive to a party that I'm not invited to because you can't drive since you were drinking all afternoon without inviting me, again, you know"

"Hey! We've only been drinking since three!"I told him from the couch.

"Do you want to go with us to the party Jacey Wacey?"Aline asked in a high pitched voice

"Aline, stop calling me that or I'll kick your ass"

"Why, Jacey Wacey?" I teased flaunting my best innocent-looking face.

"Isabelle." He warned

"Whatever, Jace, we can call a cab" I said as I noticed that we needed to get ready now and pulled Aline out of the couch way too fast.

After adjusting for a second I got into the shower while Aline did the same in Alec's bathroom. I chose a short, bright blue, tight dress with halter straps to showcase the tattoo that covered the left side of my back paired with black strappy high heels while I lend Aline a red loose dress with a crisscross cutout in the front, which she could wear without looking excessively sluty thanks to her small boobs -not that I was complaining- and black boots, smoky eyes for me and bold red lipstick for Aline and then I put my hair up in a bun whilst she kept her hair down to showcase her new do.

"Isabelle" Jace called once we were out in the den "do you still need a ride?"

"What, you're gonna drive us now?" that was a sudden change of heart that I did not expected and it was weird "why?"

"I just wanted to do something nice for my sister and close friend, god Isabelle, I can be selfless"

"Yeah, right"

"Okay, the girl I was with today, Kylie or whatever, I don't know, wanted to hang out tonight and I really don't want to…"

"I don't get how this has anything to do with you driving us to the party"

"Well, I was hoping that you could maybe pretend that we're going out so she will leave me alone? Please, I won't hook up with anyone, I'll even be DD! I swear she's parked outside with night vision goggles, Izzy, please!"

"You're overreacting Jace, stop flattering yourself"

"Come on Iz, he wants to drive us and we need to go"

"Thanks Aline" he smirked at me and I threw him a death glare "let's go!"

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><p>Helen's parties were always nice, not epic like Magnus', but nice. Aline had invited me to a few, mostly because she only knew a couple of Helen's friends and no matter how many times Helen had proven that she only wanted to spend time with her, Aline was always anxious about it.<p>

There was good music and good drinks and, surprisingly, Jace had been drinking water on the couch all night, guess that girl really scared him. Helen and Aline were dancing and I had found a corner to stand and drink for a while, since there weren't really any guys that I was interested in and I didn't want a hook up tonight anyway.

Suddenly, a tall figure caught my eye, he was there and had a very familiar redhead on his arm.

_That bitch!_

I needed Aline. Now. I made my way to where Helen and Aline were dancing and dragged them both to my corner.

"Isabelle! What's going on?!" I had clearly interrupted something, judging by the look on Helen's face.

"Sorry" I said quickly before turning to Aline "Meliorn is here"

"What?!" she looked as shocked as I felt "What do you mean 'he's here'?"

"I mean that I just saw him walking around… with Seelie, I must add"

"Do you want to go?"she said looking around "I'm sure Jace is around here, let me just find him-"

"No, no" I said quickly, I was _not_ going to leave the party just because of that idiot "he can't be the one who decides where I go. No, I just need a guy to distract myself"

"Well, let's find you one then!" Helen said happily, forgetting about my rude interruption.

"I found one!" I nearly shouted after a few moments, right by the table with the drinks was a tall guy, really tall, I guessed he was about my height with heels on, he was wearing skinny black jeans and a black t-shirt.

"Are you serious?" Aline was looking at me like I had lost my mind "you can't be serious"

"I'm with Aline on this one, Isabelle"

"What? He's cute!"

"But 'cute'is not exactly what you normally strive for"

Aline was right, the guy was not my usual type. Yes, he was tall and slender, but he didn't looked too comfortable, more like he desperately wanted to get out of there. Not quite the confident winner kind of guy I was normally attracted to. But there was something about him that made me curious.

"I'm not going to sleep with the guy, Aline!"

"Oh my god! Look at her, she looks like a cat!" Helen laughed

"More like a tiger!" Aline slapped my arm playfully and fell back into Helen's arms "poor little guy… go easy on him Iz"

Helen started kissing Aline's neck from behind and I took that as my cue to leave.

I grabbed a beer from the table next to the guy, I noticed him looking at me, he had chocolate brown eyes and I had to admit he was actually attractive in a grungy careless kind of way.

"Hey" I smiled at him, he looked confused for a second and then he returned my smile "what's your name?"

"Hi, I'm Simon" he was speaking a little too loud but clearly, a little buzz but he wasn't drunk. Perfect.

"Isabelle"

"Beautiful name" he said, still smiling "like a princess, from an old kingdom"

"I would much rather be queen than princess"

"Sorry, I'm a little nerdy"

"It's fine…" I trailed off as I found myself unable to stop smiling, then I thought of something "what are you drinking?"

"Just beer. Why?"

"What do you say about me making a little drink for you?"

"I say okay, but you have to drink it first"

"Fine" I said leaving both of our beers in the table and handing him a few bottles "but you should trust me, Simon"

We went to the surprisingly empty kitchen and he sat on a bar stool while I quickly mixed to blue drinks.

"There you go" I said handing him a glass and holding mine up "Adios Mother Fucker"

"This is actually quite good, and I didn't turn into a rat or something"

"Thank you" I curtsied and he laughed a little, and I was still smiling "I told you, you should trust me"

"And you were right, my apologies"

"Apology accepted"

We laughed and made small talk whilst we finished our drinks, he was really funny and cute, played guitar and loved videogames.

"Alright, Simon" I said when we finished our drinks, we were both pretty close to being drunk and I could feel my attraction to him growing "what are you doing 'til daylight?"

He stood up, grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the kitchen "I'm gonna dance with you"

I laughed at how ridiculous everything was, but went with him anyway, he was cute and even though I was still determined to not sleep with him, the alcohol had made me a little horny.

A lot of people in the room were on the very same mood as I was and it was almost an orgy, and Simon looked a little taken back by the view, but before he could back down I started to dance grabbing his neck and grinding my body against him, he quickly fell into the rhythm and I rested my head on his shoulder, closing my eyes. After a while I started placing sloppy kisses on his neck and his arms on my waist held me even closer.

"Do you want to go outside?" he whispered in my ear.

I nodded weakly and he led me to the stairs on front where we sat, my head on his shoulder and his arm around me, rubbing my arm gently. It was much more silent and my ears thanked me for that, I felt myself falling asleep.

"Isabelle?"

"hmm?"

"Open your eyes"

He was smiling at me, his dark hair falling on his big chocolate eyes. He looked like a puppy. I smiled at him for what felt like the thousandth time, and then I couldn't resist it anymore and lifted my head, our lips crashing together.

It was a sloppy kiss, his tongue making its way into my mouth quickly, earning a moan from the back of my throat that surprised both of us. My fingers got tangled in his hair and my free hand found its way under his shirt to caress his naked shoulder, but his hands roaming thought my body and his tongue dancing with mine, it all made me feel so good I wanted more.

My mind was still a little lucid, and remembered me that we were outside, right in front of the door, but I lost what was left of my sanity when his hand went up my thigh under my dress, I was horny and this guy was making it very hard for me not to sleep with him, not that my body was objecting it anyway -or my mind for that matter-. I gasped and then melted into him, losing all control over my body. My hand left his shoulder and made its way down, resting on his hip and then on his growing erection trough his jeans, he was as turned on as me. A little bit of pressure and he bit my bottom lip.

"Oh god, Isabelle" he said in a very low voice against my jaw.

"Izzy, call me Izzy"

He kissed his way up my jaw to my earlobe and then slowly down my neck. I threw my head back in pleasure and my hand kept on massaging his crutch, I was about to unbutton his jeans when he grabbed my wrist.

"I don't think this is the best place to do this"

I was a little taken back, but with his hand out of my dress I could think straight and I knew he was right.

"Sorry, Simon, I just got carried away"

"Me too, don't worry"

I sighted and collapsed into his shoulder again. This was unbelievable. I normally had a little self control.

"You know…" I looked at him and used all my willpower to not throw myself at him again "you can always give me your number and we can do this in a more appropriate location"

"I'll give you my number if you give me yours"

"Deal"

After exchanging numbers we went back to our original position for a moment before my phone buzzed. A text from Jace.

**_If you're done having sex on the driveway, we need to go home now. Meet you in the kitchen._**

_Crap. He saw us, now I'll never hear the end of it._ I groaned.

"I have to go"

"I'll walk you inside"

"thanks"

Inside I gave him a little peck on the cheek and went to meet Jace. It was early and Aline decided to spend the night, Jace was a little annoyed and since Sunday was moving day he rushed me into the car before I could think of staying a little longer.

My lips were stlil tingling wen sleep got to me later that night.

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><p><strong>AN: So here it is, my first chapter. Hope you liked it. (btw, if you recognize the piece of lyrics there 1. I'm sorry I tried not to write it down but I couldn't 2. It works as a hint for what's comming next)**


	2. Coffee

**A/N I'm so sorry this took so long! I had it done (almost) but I was just too busy. I have a little more time now so I think I can work on this more, hopefully for at leat two or three weeks. So, again, I'm sorry.**

**Thank you so much to the people who left a review on the first chapter (and yes, the song was Girl on TV) and to all the people who read it, it made me really exited, I hope you all read the second chapter and the whole story.**

**Remember, any mistakes I make please tell me so I can fix it and anything you want to say in general just say it.**

**So, I'll leave you to it. Hope you enjoy the second chapter...**

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><p><strong>Chapter song 1: Eliza Doolittle - Pack Up<strong>

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><p><strong>Isabelle's POV:<strong>

I woke up two minutes before my alarm. Old habits die hard, but god did I wanted to kill this one: Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise. That's what my mother says, so every single day of my life, except for my birthday and when I was really sick (and I mean almost dying) I had to wake up early and get ready for a day filled with activities from dawn to dusk, leaving me with my biological clock set to wake up early every day no matter what. No alarms needed. Awesome.

I got out of bed and into the shower, my head hurt a little, but not as much as I thought it would. Today I couldn't spend much time getting ready, mainly because Jace and Alec would kill me if I showed up on moving day in heels and a short skirt (not that I would've been unable to move some boxes in that outfit), so I chose a tank top, running shoes and shorts and went into the kitchen to get a glass of water.

"Morning" I said to a very stressed out Jace that was moving the last boxes to a pile near the door. With the moving and his obsessive cleaning he would soon explode... and kill everyone in the process.

"Izzy!" Magnus shouted from the inside of Alec's bedroom. I flinched a little. Maybe my headache wasn't that bad but I couldn't take Magnus' morning shouting. He made his way into the kitchen pushing some boxes out of his way and hugged me, "looking as beautiful as always, even with a small hangover"

I wasn't the only one who had decided on a more tone-down look for the day. Magnus was wearing tight black jeans and an emerald t-shirt with a low v neck. His hair was down and he had smudged black eyeliner.

"MAGNUS! Stop knowing the boxes down I KNOW YOU'RE DOING IT ON PURPOSE!"

Magnus just laughed and poured himself a cup of coffee while Jace picked up the boxes that Magnus had knocked to the floor mumbling something about ungratefulness.

When Alec told us he was moving in with Magnus, I agreed to help them pack everything up thinking that since Alec already spent most of the nights there, it would be a simple job, right? WRONG!

Magnus had a lot, and I mean A LOT, of his things spread around the apartment and he had bought Alec so many things that Alec himself didn't knew what was his and what wasn't. After two days everything was scattered around the floor and we had no idea what to do, so we decided that we needed Jace to organize the mess.

Movings were Jace's sweetest dream: he loved organizing stuff and bossing people around. After the experience of moving into our apartment he decided that I was not minion material and banned me from future movings, unluckily for him, he couldn't ban Magnus, and he was even worse at organizing and following orders than me. Eventually he needed all of us to help him.

Now almost everything was at Magnus' apartment, just a few streets away, and today Jace and I were going to help finish and unpack, Alec was worried about it even though Jace had explained to him that thanks to his "awesome idea" of labeling the boxes, there was no risk of us finding something "too personal" and I had explained him that we probably wouldn't mind if we found something.

"How did you know I was hangover?" I asked as I finished my glass of water and poured myself some coffee to wake me up.

"Well, you're drinking water first thing in the morning" he said pointing at the glass I had just emptied "and of course there's the fact that Jace has complained about being your DD yesterday like three times"

"Hey! You volunteered yourself Jace!" I shouted "It was another one Helen's parties"

"Aline's still forcing you to go with her?"

"She does not force me, I like Helen's parties"

"Those two need to get together soon"

"Yeah, I know" Jace grabbed the cereal from the kitchen went to the couch to eat his breakfast watching tv, Magnus and I weren't really the breakfast kind of people, just a cup of coffee was enough.

"Where's Alec?" It was weird that Magnus was out talking without him.

"Oh, he's just tired; he'll be out in a minute" Magnus said with a wink and his I-just-got-laid smile.

"I thought you didn't spend the night here"

"We didn't"

"Oh my god! Magnus! You woke up, got ready, came here and _then_ had morning sex?"

"Oh, sweetie, of course not!" he laughed, a mischievous shine in his eyes "we woke up, had morning sex, showered, had shower sex, came her and had goodbye-apartment sex, thank god I still have a little makeup here for emergencies"

I laughed with him "I can't believe you're talking about Alec, a few years ago I would've never believe you"

"But now you recognize the sex animal that lives inside your brother"

"I'm pretty sure it only exists because of you"

He winked again and we remained silent for a few minutes listening to the faded sound of Jace's show until Alec came out of his room. His hair looked weird, he had probably spent the last five minutes trying to make it look normal-ruffled and not sex-ruffled, unsuccessfully, but even without that, when he turned red at the sight of Magnus, I couldn't contain myself and laughed a little, which only made him turn a darker shade of crimson.

"Good morning, Alec" I smiled.

"Hi, Iz..."

"I must say, you look great this morning!"

"Shut up, Izzy! I'm trying to watch tv!" yelled Jace throwing a handful of cereal at my back.

"Jace!"

"What?!"

"What do you mean, what?! I just washed my hair!" he was still facing the tv but he was watching me from de corner of his eye with a smirk on his face.

I was trying to get the little pieces out of my hair before they got wet and left my hair sticky when he threw another handful at me, thankfully this time I saw it coming and moved out of the way, but Magnus, who was standing behind me saying something to Alec, didn't move on time and it hit him in the back of his head.

"You. Did. Not." Said Magnus turning around slowly. Hi eyes were burning and Jace paled a little but stayed where he was "Goldilocks, you have five seconds to apologize or I will end you".

"Apologize for what? You could've easily ducked it!"

"One"

"And it was definitely not my fault, it was Isabelle's!"

"Two"

"Magnus, come on" Alec put his hand on Magnus' shoulder. His face softened a little but his eyes were still locked on Jace's"we have to put this boxes in the car"

Alec looked a little worried, but not enough for me to think an intervention was necessary, besides, I wanted to see Jace pay.

"Yes, just give me a second, darling. Three."

"Okay okay, I'm sorry!"

"See? It wasn't that hard!"

After breakfast we moved quickly and packed the heavier boxes on Alec's car and he a Magnus drove whilst Jace and I carried the rest. It wasn't a long walk and I needed some time to talk to Jace. I avoided the topic for as long as I could, but now it was time to decide what to do with Alec's room.

By the time we started college we were both dying to get out of the house, so when Robert told us moving out permanently was an option, we were very exited. He said that he could help us out for a few months, but that if we choose to leave, we would have to support ourselves, all of this without telling Maryse, and we agreed. To be honest, we were done with him and the way he treated everybody and wanted nothing from him. Everything he and Maryse had taught us about being independent weighted heavily on our minds and thus we refused when Maryse offered to pay our rent, groceries, and everything else. She sent us money every month, but we kept it on a bank account and used it only for emergencies. We found our apartment and begged Alec to move in with us, and between the three of us we barely used our mother's money, but now that he no longer lived with us, it was time to make some decisions.

I loved the apartment, and so did Jace, but if we wanted to stay there, we needed a roommate, and I knew he didn't like that idea.

"I was thinking..." I started after walking in silence for a while "I'm posting an ad tomorrow to find someone to pay the rent"

"What for?"

"Jace, you know we need someone else, we can't do it just the two of us, at least not with the amount of hours we work"

"So stop being lazy and that's it"

"Jace"

"Fine. Find a hot girl"

"Jace"

"You're right, that's not a very good idea"

"Jace, be serious, please"

"What do you want from me, Isabelle? I don't want to live with some stranger"

"Me neither, but..."

We reached Magnus' building and he stood in front of me locking his eyes with mine for a while. I knew I was pushing him, you can be outgoing, charismatic, and confident, but _living_ with someone you don't know is not easy, I was with him, I would've loved to live with just him, but is was impossible.

"Iz, let's talk about this some other time okay?"

And just like that he turned around and went inside.

_This is going to be harder that I thought._

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><p>Upstairs I heard Jace screaming and Magnus and Alec laughing, the door was open and the hall amplified the sound. Before I could make a move, Magnus crawled out the door with his face and hair covered in what I could only assume was flour and sit against the wall catching his breath.<p>

"What are you doing?" I asked not really sure if I wanted to know the answer.

He jumped a little when he heard my voice and then smiled, clearly trying his best not to burst out in laughter.

"I'm hiding" he whispered "my dear Alexander betrayed me and joined forces with Goldilocks, _again_"

I set the boxes on the ground and kneeled by his side. We haven't had a war since new year's eve, when we had a snowball war, Magnus and I against Jace and Alec, in wich we lost after Alec distracted Magnus so Jace could attack me from behind. Magnus never stopped bringing it up.

"What's the plan?"

"Well, they're in the kitchen, so we need to get them out of there to get ammunition"

"I have an idea, wait here 'til you hear my sign and run to the kitchen" I got up, grabbed the boxes and prepared myself. "Alec, I'm not playing this game, I'm coming in to drop this boxes off and take The Chairman, okay?"

"Come in" Jace yelled after a moment.

The apartment floor had flour and sugar all over it, the couch was obviously used as a shield and all the kitchen drawers were open, for what I could see. Just like Magnus said, Jace was in the kitchen, kneeled by the door, but Alec was nowhere to be seen.

"I'm going to leave this on the bedroom" I said to Jace moving slowly "I guess The Chairman is there?"

"I think so"

I felt exposed, but I couldn't act suspicious or he'll attack me, so I walked as normal as possible. I closed the door, put the boxes on the bed and ran to the bathroom, there, I found what I was looking for. Magnus was going to kill me, but I knew there was nothing Jace hated more than the smell of hairspray -well, probably ducks- so I grabbed a can, hiding it behind my back, took a deep breath and opened the door.

Jace was still in the kitchen, Alec was in there to, because they were talking before the sound alerted them and Jace's face appeared at the door narrowing his eyes.

"The Chairman wasn't in there" I said as I walked slowly towards him. "So I think I'll just go..."

I waited until I was close but just out of his reach to show the can and aimed at him. He did exactly as I expected and threw handful of flour at me, but I was too far, so I just smiled and in a second he was out of the kitchen chasing me.

"Magnus! Now!" I yelled as Jace tackled me. I sprayed him as much as I could from my position and then he shoved some flour in my mouth.

While Jace and I were trying to hold each other down, Magnus ran from the door and into the kitchen, where Alec was waiting for him. Now I only had to hope Magnus could take down Alec.

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><p>An hour later we were all laying on the floor exhausted, The Chairman had come out and was now resting on my chest. Besides a few bruises from when Jace made me fall, we had won without any problems, Alec surrendered first, then, with two against one, it was easy to beat Jace, although I now had to buy Magnus a new can of hairspray.<p>

Magnus was snuggling up on Alec's side, sighing every time Alec kissed him on the top of his head. The rest of just stared at the ceiling, unable to move.

Alec and Magnus had something about them. When they were together, one out of two things could happen: either they were up on their little world and being around them felt uncomfortable and awkward, or they would just irradiate love, like right now, and there was nothing you could do other than to feel to people loving each other and it wasn't like you were invading their privacy, it felt good and right to share their little piece of heaven. We were inside their little world, and it was so peaceful and full of love, that it made my heart melt.

"I'm hungry" said Jace ruining the moment "what time is it?"

"I hate to agree with Blondie, but I need some food"

Jace stood up quickly.

"Let's go to Taki's then, what do you say, Sparkles?"

"I say, call me Sparkles again and I will skin you"

I was a little hungry too, but I didn't want to stand up. I groaned ad Jace pulled me to my feet.

"I'll go shower" Magnus dragged Alec towards the bedroom, but Jace knew that shine of his eyes way too much.

"No, you're not. You're not making us wait while you have sex. Let's go"

"You're crazy if you think I'm going out looking like this!"

"Well, I know you can't all look as hot as me with flour all over themselves, but that's not my problem."

And just like that, Magnus was out the door, nothing like a little challenge to make him forget his excuses, specially coming from Jace.

We walked. No body really wanted to mess up their car, and Taki's wasn't that far. Once we were there, Alec, Magnus, and I made our way to our usual table, but Jace dragged us a different direction, to the opposite side of the room.

"Let's sit here, okay?"

"Why? What is wrong with our table?" Alec looked around to check again, but the table was empty. Actually, pretty much the whole place was empty, it was that time when it was too late for lunch and too early for dinner.

"Nothing. I just want to sit here, it is good to change habits, it prevents Alzheimer's, you know?"

"You're acting very weird, Jace" I said, he sat down but the rest of us remained up, I noticed Alec was about to give in but not I, not because I particularly wanted the other table, but because Jace rarely freaked out like this "tell me what's going on or I'll sit over there"

"I don't want to run into Kaelie, now be quiet and sit"

Alec groaned and covered his face with his hands. He was way too used to Jace's problems with girls and hated being in the middle of them. Magnus laughed, put his arm around his boyfriend and, for a second, I thought he was going to sit at the other table, but Alec pulled him down on a chair before he could think about it.

"Kaelie! Right! She's the one you went out with yesterday, isn't she? The one who's insane?"

He was about to tell me to shut up when a sweet but strong voice interrupted him.

"Hi, I'm Maia and I'll be your waitress, do you want some menus?"

And just like that we stopped talking and ordered our usual meal. We spent way too much time on that restaurant, but I had never seen Maia, maybe because she only worked on this side of the room, or maybe she was new, there was no way to tell. She was good, but that only meant she had worked as a waitress before and that wasn't all that rare. But she treated Jace like any other customer, without flirty smiles or excessive eye contact, if anything, he was a little dryer when talking to him than to the rest of us. I liked that girl.

"Well, this is it" I said while we finished our dessert "you officially don't live with us anymore"

"I know.." Alec wasn't really paying attention, he was busy trying to keep Magnus from cleaning the bit of chocolate he had on the corner of his mouth

"It's going to be so weird-"

"Come on, Iz, it's not like he spent _all that time_ at the apartment anyways"

"Shut up, Jace!"

"Or what?"

"Do me a favor and don't kill each other now that I can't check up on you all the time"

"I can't promise anything"

"I'm serious, Jace"

"Fine" he pouted and crossed his arms like a child "but if she tries to cook, it'll be self-defense"

"Hey!" I slapped his arm "my cooking is not that bad!"

"It really is, Iz" Alec said putting his hand on mine like he was consoling me.

"Okay! I won't cook, but he's going to starve then, because he can't even boil water"

"Oh, and you can?" Jace opened his eyes "Do I need to remember you the time you almost burned down the kitchen trying to make pasta?!"

"They're going to kill each other aren't they?" Alec tuned desperately to Magnus that wasn't paying any attention, and he just smiled at him before giving him a peck on the lips that quickly turned into a make out session.

I tuned out Jace's ramble about my cooking skills -it wasn't anything I haven't heard before-, as well as the sight before me and pulled out my phone. I had one message from Aline. The first one was at about eight in the morning and the rest later, one after the other.

**8:05am-**_**Do you still live? are you** **awake?**_

**11:30am-**_**Iz! I had the best night EVER. Call me because I have to tell you everything!**_

**11:35am-**_**OMG! I forgot! Meliorn and Seelie had an awful fight after you left! Call me!**_

**11:36am-**_**You're not asleep, are you? React!**_

**11:40am-_Okay, I'll tell you, I can't keep it from you! Helen asked me out last night. Like a date. Just the two of us!_**

_Finally_. I laughed. I was happy for her, she really liked Helen and, as fas as I could tell, Helen liked her as well.

"Let's go, we need a shower an a well-earned nap back at _our_ apartment" My head snapped up just in time to see Magnus standing up, he looked at me and handed me some money "we're gonna go. Here, for our food. I'll text you later"

"Bye Iz"

"Bye"

Shortly after Jace and I were on our way home too. He was going on and on about how Maia had totally ignored him when he wrote his number on a napkin and I was re-reading Aline's texts.

"What's going on?" he said a little annoyed "who are you texting?"

"No one. Aline was just telling me about last night"

"Oh, right, I had forgotten that party. What does she say?"

"She and Helen are going on a date"

"Their _first_ date?!"

"Yup"

"God, I thought that had happened a long time ago!" I nodded "hey, talking about that party... how's your hangover?"

"My- oh! Fine I guess, I got over it really quickly"

"Do you remember anything?"

"What are you trying to say? of course I remember!" he knew I never got drunk enough to forget what I did, first because it took a lot and second because I didn't like the feeling of not remembering "do you think I was that drunk?"

"Well, if I must start somewhere, I'm going to go with you were dry-humping some nerd Kurt-Cobain-Wannabe"

"Yes, I did..."

I hadn't thought about it that morning. I looked at my phone, he hadn't called, nor text. Of course he wouldn't, it's not like we did something meaningful, making out while drunk is the least special thing you can do with someone, you give the your number because you're not rude, you give the your _real_ number because it was kinda good, but that's it. The person you kiss on a saturday night is not the person you call sunday morning, but rather the person you call the next weekend to repeat, if you call the at all.

Still, I caught myself wanting to call Simon. I wasn't sure how I felt about last night, about not having sex with him even though we both wanted it, I didn't know. I knew I smiled all night long, and he was cute, I kinda liked him, it was a shame we had to stop...

_Do you want to sleep with him, Isabelle? Maybe... You don't even remember exactly how the guy looks like... Maybe we could have coffee... does it sound like a date? I don't want a date, I just want to decide if I want to have sex with him... well, he wanted to, so..._

Jace ignored me when I got lost in my own thoughts and we walked in silence the rest of the way. When we got home I showered as fast as I could and locked myself in my room. Then I did two things, first I texted:

_**Hey :) It's Isabelle... Do you have time for coffee tomorrow night?**_

Then I called Aline.

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><p><strong>AN: So This was a little long... I'm not entirely happy, I think is was a little tedious in the middle but I told myself I just had to publish this once and for all, so I hope I don't bore you. Up next is a little Simon's POV and some insights on Alec and Magnus living together...**


	3. You have a text

**A/N: Sorry, sorry sorry! I'm going to stop apologizing and making excuses and leave you with the story...**

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><p><strong>Chapter song: You can rely on me - Jason Mraz also, the song Clary's singing is That's not my name - The Thing Things<strong>

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><p><strong>Simon's POV:<strong>

It was dark outside when I first woke up. I felt like crap. My head hurt, my ears were still buzzing, I has a stomach ache and I really didn't feel like getting up, but something had waken me up, maybe it was the pain. My stomach twisted as I came to this realization, so I got up, not even trying to look for my glasses, and crawled outside of the room to the bathroom.

"Good morning, sunshine!" the brightness of the living room blinded me and made me take a few steps back.

"Rebecca" I whispered, not having energy to talk louder "what are you doing up?"

She didn't answer, instead she dragged me to the kitchen and sat me down on one of the chairs, a glass of water was suddenly on my hand, but after the first sip, my stomach made me flinch again. I closed my eyes and wrapped my hands around my body, trying to make it stop.

"How much did you drink last night?"

"Not much..."

"Simon" she sounded concerned, I opened my eyes but without the glasses I wasn't very sure of what her expression was like, besides, the light wasn't helping, so I closed them again "did you thow up before bed?"

I shook my head.

"Did you eat something?"

I shook my head again.

"God, Simon!" she moved and then put what sounded like a plate on the table in front of me "eat this and then drink the water as fast as you can"

I opened my eyes, it was half a banana, just the sight made me sick "you're kidding, right? I can't eat it"

"I promise you'll feel better. Eat it and the lay around, it'll give your body something to thow up, and afterwards just eat the rest of it and go to bed"

"Becks-"

"Si, just do it, please. I have to go now, but I won't leave until you eat it"

"Where are you going?"

"To the gym, now that it's early and there's nobody there, and then to the library to meet with my study group" she was trying to get the hair away from my face, that, combined with the general tone of concern on her voice, made me feel like I was a little boy again, when my father died and Rebecca took care of me. The fierceness in her eyes when she talked again only made the feeling stronger: "eat it, don't try to distract me"

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><p>A few minutes after my sister left I was finally able to sleep. She had been right, and when it was finally time for me to wake up I felt rested, and with only a small headache.<p>

I promised Clary that I would go with her to buy some art supplies that she needed for a new painting, because apparently the shit ton she already had just weren't right. Whatever. She put up with my quirks and I put up with hers, that was the deal, so I dragged myself out of bed and into the shower just to lay back down again an hour later, done with waiting in the livingroom.

Finally my phone ringed, waking me up, of course.

"Simon! I'm outside, sorry I'm late I was just-"

She was too loud for my head, so I kept the phone away from my ear and grabbed my keys.

"I'll be down in a second"

"Were you asleep?!"

I hang up and hurried up downstairs before she continued screaming through the phone. She was waiting on her old red car with the passenger door opened, as soon as I got in she started the engine and we were off to her favorite art supplies store.

"How are you this morning, Simon?"

"Good..."

"Awesome! I love this song!" she nearly shouted, then she turned up the volume and started to sing.

I flinched and tried to keep my mouth shut, but I couldn't, so I turned the radio off.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I just have a headache"

"You do? why?" her eyes were on the road but she had a mischievous smile on her face.

"I might be a little hangover..."

"I knew it!" She shouted again, making me flinch, again.

"Clary! can you keep it down?"

"Oh! we're a little snappy today, aren't we?"

I made my best how-dare-you face, but she laughed off and instead pinched my cheek with her free hand.

"You're adorable"

"No, I'm not, I'm manly as hell"

"Of course you are..." she pinched my cheek again "now, about this hangover..."

"Yes...?"

"Eric tells me you disappeared last night?"

"I'm sure he does"

"Simon!"

"What do you want me to say, Clary?"

"First, drop the attitude, second, what happened?!"

"What do you mean what happened?"

"Yeah, what happened? Did you go home?"

"Be straight forward, Fray"

"Okay... did you have sex last night? were you with a girl when you went missing?"

I sighted, of course she would think that, I mean, of course she would hope that. I wasn't one to have a lot of relationships, in fact, the last one was a year ago, it lasted about three weeks and I only count it because it was with Clary. To be honest, it was the last thing on my mind, not that I was still hung up on Clary, that ended a long tome ago, it was just that I didn't really care.

"I was with a girl, but we didn't have sex, now drop it, Clary, please"

"Was she pretty? did you ask her out?"

And like that my suffering begun. I gave her short answers at first, but the she started asking very specific questions, making it impossible for me to avoid her questions.

In the store she got distracted and I got some peace. She was hypnotized by the colors and the brushes, is was a wonderful sight, her mouth a little opened, sometimes moving as she read something from the back of a bottle, she barely blinked and she walked quietly, like she was floating.

Unfortunately, it didn't last forever, and the second we were out of the store the interrogation continued. It wasn't as if I didn't want to talk about last night, I mean, a beautiful, stunning, girl had actually not just had a drink with me, but we made out, which was amazing, and we almost took it further, but I sopped her. I was blown away. I wanted to talk to Clary, but it felt awkward.

"Look, Simon" she said after a while, we had just taken her bags to the car and now we were walking to a small coffee shop just a few blocks away "I don't want to be nosy, I just want to know what happened, are you going to see this girl again?"

"Let's get some coffee and I'll tell you, okay?"

"Okay" she smiled and hooked her arm in mine "but you can't leave any detail out"

"Fine"

The inside was warm, with soft music playing on the background and a few people talking. We bought some dark coffee and sat down at a table by the window, she pierced me with her green eyes as I sipped my coffee.

"Tell me!"

"Calm down, Clary"

"Don't tell me to calm down, Simon"

"Okay, listen, I met a girl, we had a drink, then we went outside, made out but I sopped her before we did anything else, a few minutes later she had to leave, so I walked her inside and then found a ride home, and that's it"

"That's it?! That can't be it!"

"That's it, Fray"

"Do you like her? Did you ask her out? What's her name?"

"Well, she was hot-" she shot me a dirty look "I mean beautiful, and I do have her number, but I don't know if I should call"

"What? why not?"

"Well, I was pretty drunk, not so much I don't remember what I did but... I was not acting like myself, maybe she wasn't either"

"Simon, we both know you never drink, so you can't just assume she was as drunk as you were, first, and second, why would you think she wouldn't want you to call?"

"She's not exactly the kind of girl that aims for me, Clary"

"Ouch, thank you, Simon, that was flattering"

"Sorry... but you know what I mean, she's like the cheer captain-"

"This is not high school, just call her, or text her"

"And what should I say?"

"Well, it's too late to ask her if she got home safely, or how did she sleep, but you can still ask her out"

"Fine, I'll text her later, but now I'm starving, how about chinese take-out and Halo?"

"Perfect, let's go"

* * *

><p>"I smell chinese, I hope you left some of it for me"<p>

"Hi, Rebecca!"

"Oh! Hey, Clary, I didn't know you were here"

"Well, she is" I didn't want them to start talking about art, at least not until I win.

"I can tell, Simon" she dropped something and walked to the kitchen "now, where do we stand on that chinese?"

"Ha! Die, Fray, die!"

"Whatever, Simon, some of us actually have things to do for school and can't play everyday"

"What's that I hear? Oh, yeah, is the sound of a sorrow loser!"

"Hey, guys! Chinese for Rebecca, yes or no?"

"Right here, next to the loser, Becks"

"Thank you" she grabbed the half-empy container and took it to her room "by the way, you have a text"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: This is my little Simon's POV, it's a little short but I hope I got him, I'm not sure. I'm also naming the chapters now, so, there's that. Thank you for putting up with my schedule inconsistencies, I love you. (Also, I have a tumblr now, it's on my profile, if you want to ask me something, go ahead)**


	4. Officially

**A/N: Yay! I'm posting on time! I think I'm liking this schedule, so I'm going to go ahead and say it: I'm going to post every week. I want to thank all of you who read, favorite and/or review this story, thank you so so much, it means a lot! This is a little Malec filler, just because Malec, hope you like it.**

**Remember, the beautiful Cassie Clare still owns this amazing characters...**

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><p><strong>Chapter Song: Bright Eyes - First Day of My Life<strong>

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><p><strong>Alec's POV<strong>

"I'm so tired!" Magnus sighted right after we exit the restaurant "I just want to curl up on the couch and watch a cheesy movie"

"Me too, but we have to clean up"

"Oh! Come on, Alec! Do you really want to clean? Because I think" he wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me closer, kissing my neck harder with every word "it would be better if we just watch a movie..."

"Stop, you know I want to, but-"

"Then it's settled!" he let go of my waist and grabbed my hand, walking faster towards the house. I laughed and went with it.

"There's just no winning with you, is it?"

"You should know that by now, sweet cheeks" he pulled me close again and kiss my lips softly, laughing at my blush "I know you love that nickname, don't lie"

I did, a little. I couldn't help but blush at Magnus' nicknames, but I loved every single one of them (well, maybe not _all_ of them), just as I loved when he stole kisses from me when I was studying, even if I frowned and told him not to di it, it made me feel loved, special, wanted. I would never admit it though, I was smarter than that.

We kept walking fast for about a block, but I really was exhausted, so I slowed down, Magnus, however, as tired as he was, instead of walking normal started skipping by my side.

"What is it with you? You look like you just ate all your Halloween candy"

"I'm just happy, Alexander"

"And why is that?" I asked, pretty sure of knowing the answer.

"Well, as your beautiful sister pointed out, you now live with me,_ officially_" he squeezed my hand and smiled at me " officially... I love how that sounds"

"I hate quoting Jace, but it's not like I'm not there all the time anyways, you know?"

"Oh, believe me_,_ I know" he blinked and I was blushing again. One would thing I would've gotten over the whole blushing situation by now, but no, "but it wasn't _official_"

"You do seem to like that word... please stop jumping around, you're making me dizzy"

"As you wish, love"

When we entered the building we were almost hit by a flying shoe coming from one of the apartments on the first floor. I'd never met the girl who lived there, she went out jogging every morning but we never ran into each other, the days I left early, while I was closing the door on my way out she was always walking down the front steps. The only thing I knew about her was that she had a very, _very_, complicated relationship.

We ran to the apartment as fast as we could to avoid any other projectiles, Magnus went in first and I stood there for a moment, watching a few books being thrown out with rage. As soon as I stepped in I noticed Magnus was standing a few steps from de door staring at the place in awe, it looked dirtier that what I remembered.

"I told you we had to clean"

A little ball of fur came running from the bedroom, he ignored Magnus and rubbed against my ankles mewing loudly.

"You traitor!" Magnus whined at the cat "I know he's adorable, but how can you do this to me? Rejected by my own cat!"

"Relax, Magnus" I picked the Chairman up and nuzzled against the fur "he's hungry, and he knows I'm the only one around here who gives him food"

"That's not true!"

"The only one who gives him food _regularly_" I corrected before kissing Magnus on the cheek and taking the cat to the kitchen. The bowl was dirty, as well as the water bowl, so I had to clean them both setting the Chairman on the counter by the sink so he could play with the water.

"You _so_ spoil that cat" Magnus said leaning on the door frame with a disapproving look on his face.

"Oh, and you don't?" I sat the plate at its usual place and help the cat down, then I was surprised by a strong pair of arms around me, he began kissing my neck prom behind and I laid back into him.

"God, I missed you so much" he whispered between a kiss and the next and I laughed.

"What are you talking about? we were together all day"

"Yes, but with your siblings... I love them, but-"

"I know what you mean" I said turning around in his arms "I missed you too"

I met his mouth with mine and got lost in the kiss. It felt so natural kissing Magnus and that made it easier for me to let go and before I knew it my hands were roaming his back underneath his shirt and soon afterwards, tugging on the end for him to take it off, he removed mine just as quickly and began tracing my collabone with his lips, biting and sucking along the way. I lost by breath and threw my head back with pleasure, one of his hands was resting on my hip while the other one was tangled in my hair.

He dragged my out of the kitchen and to the couch, the he was straddling me, I looked up at him and he smiled, it was more of a smirk, right before he started kissing my neck again. I sighted and closed my eyes, It felt like heaven.

"Alec?"

"Hmm?"

"Were you asleep?" I opened my eyes. Everything was pretty much the same, we were on the couch and Magnus was on top of me, looking directly into my eyes with a smile on his face "You were, weren't you?"

"No I didn't"

"You did, sweetheart, you have sleepy eyes" he bent forward with his arms on each side of my head and kissed me "you have adorable sleepy eyes"

I kissed him back and then rested my head on the couch again, my eyes were closing again, maybe I _was_ asleep.

"Come on, baby" He stood up and offered me a hand "it's time to take a nap"

I stayed on the couch, I was so comfortable. "can't we just stay here?"

"You're going to freeze" he said knowingly and wiggled his fingers "come on"

"Fine" I stood up and ignored his hand, wrapping my arms around his waist instead.

"You're adorable!"

"Yeah, yeah, take me to bed, would you?"

"A little moody today, aren't we?"

"I'm tired, you pointed it out, now take me to bed"

I snuggled up on his side and he ran his finger across my back, soon after, The Chairman came and curled up on the pillow above by head. I looked up at him, he was so beautiful, so perfect, I loved him more than anything.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked me when he catched me staring at his face.

"Nothing... I'm just happy we _officially_ live together" We laughed a little and he took my hand.

"Me too" he kissed the palm and then each finger "I love you"

"I love you too"

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><p><strong>AN: What do you think? I hope you liked it, as always, feel free to review, PM me or if you want to ask me anything, I'm on tumblr, thank you for reading! :)**


	5. First dates

**A/N: I'm really sorry for not updating last week, I just had writer's block plus finals so, yeah, sorry, but, in compensation I'll post two extra chapters next week yay!... Thank you so much for reading and following and everything, I love you guys! (for the texts, Simon is in bold and Izzy just in_ italics,_ also in italics are Izzy's thoughts so I hope it's not confusing)**

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><p><strong>Chapter Song 1 (For Aline): The Vamps - Risk it all<strong>

**Chapter Song 2 (For de date/not-date): A Rocket to the Moon - If I'm Gonna Fall in Love (I love this song and I think this is pretty much the direction I want this story to go for Izzy, so I think is a good soundtrack for their first date)**

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><p><strong>Isabelle's POV:<strong>

I met up with Aline at a small coffee shop so we could talk, phone calls weren't really her thing when it came to this kind of stuff. We had just ordered when my phone buzzed and I jumped, knowing it had to be Simon. I was starting to get nervous when he didn't answer right away, then I figured he was studying or something and his phone was away.

"What are you waiting for?!" I had told Aline that I asked Simon out and she was very exited, she shook my shoulder and I turned the phone around to look at the screen.

_**Hi, Izzy, sorry, I wasn't looking at my phone**_

I smiled, at least he didn't ask who I was.

_**Tomorrow night?**_

_Yeah… I have class all morning and then work, and I'm not much of a dinner person_

_**Don't worry, what time?**_

_See me at 7?_

_**Sure**_

"So.. what is he saying?!"

"He said yes, of course"

"Oh, _of course_!" she sat up on her chair, trying to hide her smile "ten seconds ago you were thinking he wouldn't even remember you and now _of course_ he said yes"

"Shut up!" I stuck out my tongue and she finally burst out in laughter "Well, someone's in a good mood..."

"I am!" she screamed, earning a few glares from the tables next to us "I hate to take the spotlight off you, but I'm so exited!"

"Sweetie, I'm here to be exited about you, now tell me everything"

Our order came in and Aline opened her mouth for a second and then closed it again, she did that about three times before pulling on her red sweater's sleeves "There really isn't that much to tell..."

"Aline, don't make me beg"

She started crumbling her cookie, her eyes glued to the table, but with a smile playing in the corners of her mouth "I stayed 'til the end of the party and helped her get everybody a cab or something and then..."

I was studying her face, she still wouldn't look up but her smile was now a full teeth-showing smile and there was a little color on her cheeks, she was now chewing on the hem of her sleeve and it was really heart-warming. I'll have to talk to Helen though, you know, give her the break-her-heart-and-I-break-your-face speech.

"Then she kissed me and we sat on the couch, she told me that she liked me and asked me when was the last time we went out together, alone, so I said 'never' and she smiled at me and said 'we're going out this weekend, then', after that we went to sleep, and I thought it was the alcohol talking because you know Helen, she's never like that, so this morning I asked her if we were still on this weekend and she went completely pale, she couldn't believe she had actually asked me, she thought she had dreamed it!"

I was smiling along by now, Aline had lost that first stream of shyness and was talking with her hands, making gestures and trying to convey every facial expression of the conversation.

"Anyway, she was freaking out, and I mean Alec-level freaking out, so I tried to calm her down -Izzy! not like that!"

"Sorry, sorry, keep going"

"So I'm trying to calm her down when I thought, 'fuck it!' and looked at her and said 'hey, do you want to go out with me this weekend?' and she stopped panicking and looked at me with her mouth wide opened and then-"

"Wait! you told me_ she_ asked _you_ out!"

"She did"

"But the final question was yours, you asked her! Congratulations!"

"I guess..."

"So where are you guys going? Are you planing it or Helen?"

"I'm planing it, I want to surprise her" there was that smile again, I felt so happy for her. I was not one for relationships, but Aline was a hopeless romantic and she deserved a wonderful love story "I haven decided what to do yet"

"Well, this one guy took me horseback riding, it was fun... no?"

"No, I don't really like horses"

"Then how about something more traditional" _or cliché_, I thought "like a picnic"

"I don't know.. I have a week, I'll figure something out" she took a sip of her probably-cold tea and smile mischievously at me "now, you have a date too, tell me about it"

"First, it's not a date, we're just going for coffee"

"Right"

"Don't look at me like that!"

"I'm sorry, but it is a date, whether you admit it or not"

"Whatever" I sighted, of course she would think this Simon guy is the love of my life "I just want to resume were we left last night"

"That's all? okay, keep telling yourself that, Izzy"

She kept teasing me and I kept ignoring it until it was time to go home and get some sleep. I had early classes the next morning and if I was going to pull through classes, work, and my not-date with Simon, I had to get some sleep.

* * *

><p>"Izzy!" <em>By the Angel, I hate Mondays! <em>"Get out! If there's no hot water I'm going to kill you!"

I let the hot water run down my back one more time before turning the shower off. Mondays were the only day Jace and I had to be ready at the same time and it was a nightmare. At least for now we didn't have to share the bathroom, since he decided Alec's would be his, not for long though, I was not backing down on the whole roommate thing, it wasn't an option.

I made my way back to my bedroom with a towel wrapped around my body and another one in my hair. Deciding what to wear would've been hard if I hadn't already narrowed down the options the night before. I decided upon a cream light dress with my all-time-favorite leather jacket and some killer boots, it was good to know that Simon was around my height in heels, most guys felt intimidated when I showed up in 6 inch heels and they look a lot shorter than me.

After doing my make up, nothing very flamboyant, just normal eyeliner and lipstick, I swung my messenger bag over my shoulder and pushed my work uniform-a black T-shirt with the store's name on it-inside and made my way out. I texted Jace on the way telling him that I would be late and prepare myself for my first class of the day, and I must add the most boring one.

The day dragged on and by noon I wanted to bang my head against the walls, just to feel like I was doing something I bought my lunch to go and drove to work, only to then be stuck in the car eating a wet sandwich. At least I had AC and my iPod. I finished and figured I might as well go inside.

I worked at a small clothing store-the owner insisted in calling it a 'boutique'- just outside campus, it wasn't very expensive but it had pretty things, a lot of dresses and skirts, but the main focus were accessories, so the sales were good almost all year long.

I left my bag and my jacket in one of the lockers in the small back room and put the shirt over my dress before standing behind the counter.

"Isabelle!" an overly happy voice said behind me "Nice to see you're here early!"

The only thing I hated about this job was my manager, Stacey, who was happy all the time, literally all the time. I swear you could tell that girl her dog was shot to death and she would keep on smiling. It was very infuriating. I turned to look at her, she was very short and skinny, and was always wearing flower dresses and those stupid clip-on bows on her hair, she looked like an elf.

"How's your day going?"

"Good!" I said as sarcastically as possible even though I knew she wouldn't pick it up.

"That's great!" she kept smiling at me and it made me very uncomfortable "it's a little slow so why don't you fold those shirts over there?"

I did as she told me without an answer, halfway through I felt my phone buzz against my ankle, yes, I keep my phone inside my boots.

_**Hey, it's Simon**_

_Hi!_

**_You never told me where do you want to meet?_**

_I know this little coffee shop, I'll text you the address later, we can meet there_

**_K_**

I rested the phone on the table and continued folding, I was about to finish when another text came in.

_**What are U doing?**_

_Working :( U?_

**_Just got out of class_**

_Tell me U're not free 'til our date because I'll kill you_

**_Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm going to take a nap._**

_I hate u_

**_LOL_**

I sat behind the counter and checked twitter my whole shift. The good thing about Stacey was that she wasn't that tough when we were on a slow day so spending all evening looking at my phone didn't get me in trouble.

As the hours passed I started to get anxious, I replayed the night over and over agin in my head, from spotting him by the drinks to the kiss, I tried to see how many little details I could remember, how much of the conversation I had retained. I mainly remembered big rich brown eyes, bright smiles, cheesy jokes, and bubbling laughter. I smiled at the memory as I counted down the hours, the minutes, until it was time for me to leave.

"Isabelle?" I shoot my head up from my phone to look at Stacey "I think we can close early today, you can go now if you want to"

"Really?"

"Sure"

"Thank you, Stacey!"

I jumped out of my chair and grabbed my stuff, not bothering to take the shirt off and darted towards the door, as I was leaving I heard "And good luck tonight!"

_Crap. Guess I'm not being very discreet... well, whatever, I have a not-date!_

I threw my stuff on the back seat along with my black shirt, rolled down all the windows and turned on the radio as hard as I could. I was on a very erratic mood today. I drove slower than I normally would, just enjoying the music and the cool air. I had mixed feelings, I haven't been on a date (or a not-date, whatever this was) in a long time, I felt anxious and nervous but also exited and curious. I parked a few blocks away and glanced at my phone, 6:45, just in time. I fixed my dress, put on my jacket and walked over, standing right by the door.

Shortly after, Simon arrived. I saw him before he saw me and I gasped, he looked hot. He was wearing dark skinny jeans with black converse sneakers, a shirt that had something written on it and a leather jacket. As he came closer I could see he was wearing glasses with thick black frames that fit his face in an amazing way, his hair looked naturally disheveled. Finally he saw me and smiled, at this distance I could read the white letters on his shirt_**Come to the Dark Side, we have cookies**_, I laughed to myself,_ now this is more like the Simon I remember_. He came in and kissed my cheek delicately as my breath rose again.

"Hi"

"Hey."

"How are you?"

"Good..." I smiled and shifted on my heels "did you find the place easily?"

"Yes, my best friend used to work here"

"Really? A friend of mine works here during the day!"

"It's a little cold, do you want to go inside?"

"Sure"

I felt awkward for the first time since god-knows-when, the inside was warm and cozy with dim lights and old furniture that didn't match completely but somehow worked together. Magnus was the one who showed me this place, it was were all the art kids hang out and I loved it. There was a little stage in the back, so a lot of indy college bands played here on the weekends, and on Wednesday night they held poetry readings, the coffee was one of the bests and the customer service was great, almost all the employees were art majors and the place also served as a gallery for some of their works.

We chose a small table by the window that had a small vase with flowers and ordered some coffee and no food.

"You're not one for dinner either?" I asked when the waitress left.

"I am, I'm just not hungry today" He offered me a shy smile and it occurred to me that maybe I wasn't the only one acting nothing like themselves.

"Oh." _come on, Isabelle, a conversation without alcohol, you can do it_ "so, Simon..."

He looked at me with a questioning look in his eyes. _  
><em>

_Crap, I'm not good at this._

"You're wearing glasses..." I wanted to smack my head against the table.

"Yes, I don't like wearing them to parties"

"You look nice"

"Thanks"

There was an awkward silence in which, thank god, the waitress brought us our drinks, then we sipped our coffee in silence looking at each other once in a while.

"This is uncomfortable" he said after a while and I let pout a breath I didn't knew I was holding "let's talk about something"

"Like what?" he shrugged and then an idea came to my mind "let's play 20 questions!"

He laughed and I laughed with him, I don't think I've played that game since junior year, but if it would break the ice so be it.

"You start" he said taking a sip of coffee.

"Okay... something simple, what's your major?"

"Phycology" _wow, I did not expect that_ "What's yours?"

"Guess..."

"I'm terrible at guessing"

"Economics"

"Wow"

"Good wow or bad wow?"

"Good, definitely good. Now tell me-"

"It's my turn!"

"No it's not, you already used your second question!"

"That's not fair!"

"Life's not fair, Isabelle..." he paused and tilted his head to the side "what's your last name?"

"Lightwood"

"Well, life's not fair, Isabelle Lightwood" he winked at me as I sipped on my coffee "your turn"

"Okay, let's see... what's your best friend's name, the one that used to work here?"

"Clary. Do you have any brothers or sisters?"

"I have two older brothers and one younger brother, how about you?"

"I have one older sister. What are their names?"

"Alec, Jace, and Max, what's hers?"

"Rebecca" his warm breath brushed my skin and I realized we were both leaning forward on the table "how old are you?"

"Twenty, you?"

"You have to stop asking the same questions I do!"

"Answer Simon"

"Twenty-one"

By the time the game ended the awkwardness was gone and we ended up having a really nice time and several cups of coffee. Simon was a fan of puns and cheesy jokes, the kind that would've annoyed me under normal circumstances but I spent the whole night laughing. At some point his hand found mine above the table and held it, stroking it gently with his thumb and I thought that I'd forgotten how nice that felt. It was getting late and cold so we decided to go, he paid, even tough I insisted on paying my part.

"You'll pay next time"

"Are you asking me out?"

"It seems like it"

"Okay"

We walked outside and the cold air hit us, I automatically sheltered on his shoulder and tried to pull away as soon as I realized what I was doing, but he put an arm around me, holding me close to his body and protecting me from the wind.

"Where's your car?" He asked.

"A few blocks away, you can see it from here"

"Let me walk you"

"It's okay, Simon"

"I'm going to walk you to your car, Isabelle"

"Fine then" One thing I'd learned throughout the evening was that he was almost as stubborn as me, and really what was the point of arguing if I wanted to stay close to his warm body?

We reached my car and I leaned against the door, missing the heat of another body. He kept my hand on his and looked at me.

"This was nice" I said with a smile "I had a really good time"

"Me too..."

"And, since you already asked me out again, I guess we'll be doing it again soon"

"Yeah, I guess" he laughed but it sounded a little forced.

"You must be freezing!"

"A little"

"God, I'm sorry, Simon, go"

He didn't let go of my hand, instead he did what I wanted im to, he leaned forward and I crossed the space between us, giving him a sweet kiss. His arms wrapped around my waist, pulling my body closer to his and my hands played with his hair. This time it was a slow kiss, nothing like the sloppy make-out session, it was way better. His lips were soft and warm, moving in rhythm with mine, he parted my lips with his and ran his tongue across my bottom lip and I felt a small shiver down my spine, I slid my tongue inside and ran it across his, delighting on the lingering taste of black coffee.

At last we broke apart, just enough to look at each other's face without letting go, his eyes were shining and I remembered how they looked when dark with lust, by the Angel I wanted to see that look again!

"Good night" he whispered, without letting me go just yet.

"Goodnight"

He gave me a little kiss on the cheek and started to walk away. I stood there for a good minute watching him go, and I would've stayed longer but it was really cold and I had to get in the car.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: And This is chapter 5! Again, I'm sorry it took so long, now, if you want to see Izzy's outfit go to my tumblr: dripsofjupiterinmyhair, I'll put up the link. Now, I'm going to do Simon's POV of the date/not-date, now, should I do it as chapter 6 or should I stay on Izzy's POV for a few days first? Let me know what you think!**


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